Thunderbird
by Cheetoy
Summary: A prayer for a son who's world is destroyed.  How it is answered comes from a strange person.
1. Chapter 1

Thunderbird

AN: This is a based off both Voltron Force looks for characters and Devil's Due comic back story with some twists.

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><p>Chapter 1: Blindsided<p>

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><p>Thunderbird…<p>

Protector… Harbinger of the Gods… look over my son.

Officer Charlie McClain cussed over the weather. Bad enough his idiot nephew was busted pulling some kind of stunt, but the weather had gone south fast. Now he and Lance were hoping the snow to clear up. That or at least let them see another ten feet more in front of them. Looking for a quick moment at his nephew, he gave him an elbow for him to get his seatbelt on. Last thing he wanted was the boy getting killed after saving his butt from the crazy manager at Dude Ranch Resorts. Lance was eleven years old and already had a record. Granted they were minor infractions, but he was starting to get a third page to his rap. Charlie prayed something would get into the head of his nephew before things got worse.

The radio crackled to life. An accident had happened just ahead of him on the same road. A truck jack-knifed and a car had collided into it. Charlie hit the lights as Lance sat up. Lance was not sure what to think. He welcomed anything that might divert the fact that he was in deep trouble with his folks, but a crash? Lance thought crashes were kind of cool, but only when no one was hurt. By the bright yellow glow up ahead, Lance feared there would be no such luck here. He could hear his Uncle cuss as he called for the fire trucks.

When they got there, the snow cleared enough for them to see the damage. The Freight truck covered the two lanes of the narrow back road of Nebraska. The car that was on fire lay in a ditch just near the truck, on fire. As Charlie tried to stop he could feel the snow making braking hard. Stopping feet from the truck, he jumped into action as fast as he could. "Don't touch anything, you hear?" Lance nodded. If being good could get his Uncle to ease things over with his folks, Lance would do it.

Charlie grabbed a fire extinguisher and looked over the scene. By the trail of bits of metal, it seems the car failed to see the jack-knifed truck in time and plowed under it trailer. He felt lucky that the fire was small enough for his extinguisher to put out. He was ready for what he might see, but it was the scream he wasn't ready for.

In the wreck, he could see the two front passengers were dead. Just like the car had lost its roof as it went under the trailer, so did they. It was from the back seat that the screaming was coming from. A boy no bigger than Lance was lying across the seat, howling, at the other half of the woman dangling before him.

Charlie swooped into the car, grabbing the boy to drag him out. He could make out "Mother" barely as the boy screamed and kicked. If the boy was injured, he showed no signs of it. Opening the back door of his car, he yelled for Lance to join the boy in the back. "I want you to hold him in here. Don't let him out of this car, understand?" Lance gave a quick "Yes, sir." and held on to the boy. As Charlie closed the door, he could taste the bile coming up his throat. Hell of a day. Looking again at the mess, he spotted a male head lying on the road. And by the sound of someone heaving, he saw that the truck driver must have seen it too. Walking to the front of his car, he gave in as well. Hell of a day.

The boy's screams were starting to dissolve away into tears. Lance wanted to be sick as well. He couldn't see all of it, but if Uncle Charlie was hurling, it was bad. Lance looked the boy over. He was about his size, the blackest hair he had ever seen and tanned skin. The way he was dressed seemed strange to him. It seemed like it was Native American, but the colors and pattern were nothing like what was at the Tribe lands. Was he an Indian from somewhere else traveling through?

"Aw hell, what do you say to someone who may have just lost his family?" Lance thought to himself. Heck, did he speak English? Some of the American Tribes had reclaimed their language and spoke it exclusively. Hell, he might as well try English. Then it would save some trouble later.

"Um… What's your name?" Lance asked quietly.

The boy sat in Lance's arms, facing the window of the back seat. In the red and blue lights of the police car, he could see the snowflakes drifting. He felt like sleep was trying to lure him back to into its void. Just as it had before this nightmare began. They were traveling home from the major spaceport after visiting his Grandfather's ranch on the thunder lands of Ganelv. It was a long trip and customs was rude to say the least. Dad wanted to save some money after paying so much for the space flight, so he planned a car trip back home in Texas. He was so tired and his mother was singing a lullaby from her youth. He had lain down for what seemed to be just a moment to be awoken by a scream and a shower of glass and metal. Then he saw her face. What was left of it. The tears swelled up in his eyes as he tried to bury his face into Lance's coat. "Keith," he mumbled before the pain choked what little air he had left in him.

"Mine is Lance," the other boy replied. "I'm so sorry."

Lance watched the trucks and other police officers come. A medic popped in to look over Keith. When they wanted him to leave the car, Keith didn't want to. He kept a grip on Lance, not wanting to leave the back seat. As the other adults gathered around the car, it seemed something was decided upon. Lance could also see the car being covered in plastic. Seeing his Uncle returning with a handful of papers, he braced himself to hear how bad it might be. "Cripes. I really don't know Keith, but hell, who's going to look out for him?" Lance thought to himself. Charlie plopped down into the front seat. Placing the papers and his hat in the passenger seat, he let out a large sigh, then looked to Lance as if to ask if Keith had said anything, "His name is Keith," Lance said.

"Keith… Keith Kogane. I'm truly sorry, son, for what you just went through," Charlie said. "Do you have any family here on Earth?"

Keith barely moved his face from Lance's coat. All Officer McClain could see was one blood-shot eye, a flash of blue in a sea of red just barely covered by black. "I have an Aunt in Houston," he squeaked.

"Well, we are going to contact her. Let her know what has happened. In the meantime, I have to get you to a hospital for a check-up. If they say you're okay, you can stay with me till your Aunt comes for you." Charlie told him.

Keith gripped Lance tighter. Sensing the fear in Keith, an idea struck Lance, "If you want, I'll stay with ya." Lance chipped in. "That is… if that's okay, sir."

Charlie looked at the two boys. Lance was always one to help someone in need. He saw how Keith clung to Lance. It felt right. Hell, it would make it a bit easier to keep an eye on him. Not like he was married and would be troubling a wife. To top it off, Lance was in a heap of trouble with his folks. Having him out of their hair for a day or two might be what they could use. Nothing better than having some time to breath before laying the hammer down when Lance went back home. Who knew, it looked like it would help Keith more than anything else.

Charlie started moving the car to the nearby hospital. Hell of a day.

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><p>AN: Ganelv if the internet is correct is Abode in Cherokee<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Roller Coaster

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><p>If having to deal with Children's Welfare Department was a joy, which it was not, Charlie wasn't really having any better luck with his sister-in-law. While the red-tape and bean-counters wanted to nit-pick into a poor boy's family before letting him even see them, the bureaucrats wanted someone else to look after him and have his brain picked by head shrinks. While he could understand having someone see if Keith was all right mentally, the last thing the boy needed was to be shuffled about. He was there at the scene, he had the time off, and he could look after him. It was the one thing good about living in a small town; one cop could take time off to look after someone in need. Make that two kids in need.<p>

Charlie could understand the pressure his sister-in-law was under. She had seven kids and each one had their own level of energy. Lance had the most of the bunch, plus he had the smarts to get into more trouble than he should. Being the second youngest, Charlie couldn't help but feel Lance was trying his hardest to get some level of attention that his parents just couldn't give. Hearing how Lance had caused a ruckus at the resort was the straw that was breaking his poor sister-in-law's back. He was hoping that a few days would help. Not a whole week, just a few days. Yet he gave in to his brother's wife. She needed to focus on the youngest; little Anna was sick again with the fever. It was the third time in a two month span.

He was wondering how to entertain the two boys. Lance was always easy, hand him a bike and he'd be at it for the whole day with tricks and some plywood ramps. Keith on the other hand, was a rag doll. Crud, it just hit him. Keith was lacking cloths and stuff. Seeing how he had to get Lance's stuff, it was perhaps a good idea to see if Lance could share some things and they would go buy the rest.

"Lance, over here," he said pointing to the chair by him.

Lance hopped over from the sofa where he was enjoying the Crush Derby Rally that was on TV.

"Boy, you are going to be with me for a week. Anna is sick again. Your stunt came at a bad time."

"But it's not my fault…"Lance blurted out.

"I don't care. We are going to head over to your house and get what you need for the week. Also, see if any of your clothes fit Keith."

"What? You want me to give my clothes…"Lance started to protest.

"Just for a while, 'till he gets his own back from the Department and we can get a few new ones for him," Charlie interrupted. "And Lance… help me out here. Put yourself into his shoes. All right?"

Lance looked back at the sofa. Keith was lying down facing the pillows. Since leaving the hospital, he had not said anything. He didn't look like he was dressed for winter. Sighing, Lance walked over to Keith. Shaking him, he mumbled, "Come on, I need to go get my clothes and we're going to get you some too."

"…."

"Heeeelloooo. Is there anybody in there?" asked Lance in an almost song-like manner. "Anyone home?"

Keith took a swipe at Lance, just brushing his leg.

"Look, if you don't come willingly, I'm going to get some of my sister's dresses for ya," Lance joked.

Keith turned his head to face Lance. The smirk on Lance's face told him that the kid was willing to run him into a level of hell he was in no mood for. The thought that Lance's sister may be an uber-girly girl seemed to haunt him and being mocked just hurt. Forget being mocked, he was just hurting. The image of his mother's face kept popping up everywhere. Mustering what strength he had, he tried to pull himself up off the sofa yet fell short. He legs just didn't want to work just yet. Didn't feel like any part of his body wanted to work. His head felt like spinning and a feeling of burning was building up in his chest. "Oh God… I'm going to Puke," flashed through his mind. "Puke…"he managed to mutter before it started to come out.

Lance must have caught on to what was happening as he grabbed Keith by the arm and rushed him to the bathroom. Charlie hardly had a chance to see what was up before noticing a trail of vomit. Hearing the poor boy in the bathroom, he could only sigh. It had been about ten or so hours since his world turned upside down. With such a roller coaster of a time, who would not be surprised if the boy didn't throw up? Opening the cleaning closet, he got two buckets out, some Lysol and some rags. Handing Lance a bucket and an understanding smile, he got to work on the hallway.

The one good thing about the incident was Keith was on his feet again. Not talking, but at least moving. Lance was attempting to figure out what Keith was into with no such luck. The ride to Lance's house was very one-sided to say the least. Keith just sat there, staring out the window. Even though the grey skies were not very bright, his blue eyes seemed to glow against his dark skin and the black hair falling into his face. Lance was getting tired of his lop-side conversation with Keith. One way or another, Keith was going to talk. It was his mission now and he'd find a way.

Lance at first thought to stare at him but gave up when he saw Keith was not paying any attention. "Time for the tried but true," he thought. Keith wasn't sure what Lance was up to. He wasn't in a mood to talk to Lance. He was actually happy that Lance went quiet and seemed to be leaving him alone. But now… Lance was poking him kind of hard in his shoulder.

"Ow! Quit it!" Keith yelled. Charlie looked into the rear view mirror.

"Quit what?" Lance replied, grinning evilly as he poked Keith again.

"Quit touching me!" Keith shot back, smacking Lance's hand away from him.

"Lance… knock it off. We're almost at your place," Charlie said in a warning tone.

"AAAUGH! But I can't stand how quiet he is!" Lance moaned.

"Screw you," muttered Keith.

Lance looked at Keith with a smirk. "I'll have you know, I prefer girls, thank you."

"Who cares," Keith mumbled as the car pulled up the dirt driveway.

"I do," Lance shot back.

Keith shot a look at him as if he couldn't believe the conversation they were having.

"I mean, we are going to be with each other for about a week. You want me to call you an Emo? I know jack-squat about you and it's going to get really boring fast if we don't have something in common to do," Lance said with a look of near panic on his face.

They came to a sharp stop by the small farm house. Hopping out of the backseat, they were greeted by an older-looking girl dressed in ripped jeans and a grungy sweat shirt. "My sister, Jackie," Lance whispered to Keith.

"Lance… you are so much in trouble," Jackie said with a bland tone. "So is this your partner in crime?"

"No," Lance snarled back. "You still can't find any guy to look at your ugly face?"

"You jerk! MOM!" she yelled to the house.

"Jackie, not now. Lance, stop being mean to your sister and go upstairs and get your stuff," said a woman opening the door. "Hello, Charlie. Thank you for getting him out of my hair for a while. Is this the boy you mentioned about?"

Feeling uncomfortable being talked about in his face, Keith quickly followed Lance. Lance was a pain but to Keith it was better than being talked about as if he wasn't there.

"Yes he is, Amy," Charlie replied. "I'm to look after him for about two weeks. By then, his Aunt should be able to take him to his new home with her."

"Is he from the tribal lands?" Amy asked noticing Keith's outfit as he made the turn at the top of the stairs.

"No, he's half Ganelvian. It's the style they wear there. From what we gathered, he was visiting his mother's side of the family. The father was trying to save some bucks and drive home from the South Dakota Space Hub. It's a pure miracle he survived, just wished he didn't see what he did." Charlie stated with a sigh.

Upstairs in Lance's room, Lance was digging into piles of clothes, sniffing to see which smelled the least. Tossing a pair of blue jeans at Keith, "Here, try these on."

"Geez… Clean much?" Keith half jokingly said.

"You always wear a loincloth?" Lance joked back.

Keith half laughed as he noticed that in fact, he was wearing the traditional garb of Ganelv as he took the baggy leather pants he had on. Lance's jeans were a bit tight in the seat. Keith wasn't sure if it was because of his loincloth or it was just the size. "What size are these? They are freaking tight," he complained.

"Um… small? Let's see if I can find my baggy pair," said Lance. "Oh, try this shirt," he added as he continued to burrow through the clothes.

Keith switched out his leather tunic for the sport jersey. It was oversized, but not so much. Keith took another look at the blue jeans. The inside of the tag was faded but still readable. Lance was smaller than him by one inch. Plus, the style of the jeans didn't offer much space in the rear. "You still wear this pair?" Keith asked.

"Yeah… "Lance replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You got no ass," Keith jokingly stated to him.

Lance growled at him. Keith may have lost his parents, but that was no excuse to insult his back side. Grabbing one of his dirty pairs of underwear, "Oh I have an ass," he said lunging at Keith. "Why don't you smell it for yourself," trying to shove the pair into Keith's face.

At first, Charlie thought Lance was in a full fight with Keith, as he could hear the two wrestling in the room. As he reached the door, he could hear the sound of the two laughing in what was actually a game of "Smell It". Neither one was winning as Keith had his foot over Lance's nose while Lance had a grungy pair of underwear on Keith.

"Enough, you two," Charlie bellowed to the boys. "Let's wrap it up before the stores close. Or Keith is going to go Commando in your pants and I know you don't want that."

"Yes sir!" they chimed.

Watching as the two started to get stuff together; Charlie could not help but think Keith would be all right in the end.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Of Dreams, Pirates, and Chickens

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><p>Even after bagging some clothes into a suitcase and other various things Lance wanted to entertain him in a duffel bag, it seemed as if the grownups still wanted to talk about stuff. Lance and Keith found themselves leaning against the house staring at the barn and chicken coop.<p>

"Want to check out the chickens?" Lance asked with boredom in his voice.

"Whatever," Keith replied. Looking at the birds would be better than nothing. Perhaps they would check the barn next.

Lance thought the chickens were fun. Granted, they ran from him most of the time, but when he got one he gave it to Keith to hold. Keith thought the chicken Lance handed to him looked funny. Its white and red feathers were everywhere, covering its feet in a flared shape and it had a cluster of them around its head like an afro, or maybe dreadlocks. "Her name is Disco Sue," Lance told him as he went after a spotted red hen. Keith wondered how she could see; he kept looking under the feathers on her head to see if she had eyes to begin with. Lance finally caught the red hen he was after when a loud hissing sound came from behind Keith.

Keith slowly looked behind him. Standing there was a large, scrawny red rooster.

"Oh shoot… Keith, drop Sue, we need to get out of here," Lance said as he put the red hen down.

As soon as the chickens hit the ground, the red rooster charged Lance and Keith. They quickly rushed to the door of the coop, hoping to close the door on the mad bird, but in their rush only wound up letting him out. The bird pecked at their feet as they ran. "Here! Climb the tree!" Lance screamed at Keith.

Henry stood there as he watched the two boys scramble up the small tree with an angry chicken behind them. Darn it, Lance and whoever his friend was had pissed off Chicken Joe. Walking into the house, he called out to his wife, "Sweetheart, where's the pail for the feed. Chicken Joe has Lance and a boy up a tree."

Amy popped her head out from the kitchen, "Really? Can you get a picture for your brother Charlie? That should be good for a laugh as he's to take care of those two for a week," she replied.

"What is this? Lance and Keith are what?" Charlie asked.

Amy shook her head, "Chicken Joe. The boys must have been in the coop. The old bird doesn't take well to any boys since Willy scared the poor thing with some fireworks. The pail is by the coop. Better go save the boys, Ol' Joe is going to be after them till he's lured back to the coop."

Charlie laughed as he followed his brother to the tree not far from the chicken coop. Sure enough, Lance and Keith were sitting up in its branches, while Chicken Joe was strutted under the two. "It's not funny, Charlie," Lance shouted. "We weren't doing anything wrong."

"It doesn't matter, son," his father yelled back. "You were in the coop. That was good enough reason for him."

Charlie reached out to Keith to help him down. He felt for the boy… with all that he'd through, the humor of a chicken chasing them up a tree was kind of lost on him. He held Keith as his brother lured the mean bird from the tree and back to the coop. Lance hopped down as the door to the coop closed. "Sorry, Keith, I forgot about Chicken Joe," said Lance. Keith just dug his face into Charlie's shoulder.

"I think Keith has had enough excitement for now. How about getting your stuff into the car, we'll be heading out soon," Charlie said, patting Lance's head. Turning his attention to Keith, he asked, "Are you okay, son?"

Keith mumbled something he couldn't understand. Charlie rubbed his back. "Too much excitement?" he whispered.

Pulling away from Charlie, Keith mumbled, "Yeah, too much." He wanted all this moving about to stop. He wanted everyone to stop calling him "son"; the only ones who could call him that were gone. He didn't want Lance to be poking into his life; he wanted his mother and father. Keith wanted to wake up from this nightmare. That was what this was, a nightmare.

The truth would be that he'd overslept in the car. His father would be complaining over the stuff his mother had bought on Ganelv, while she carried him into his bed. The small house between Austin and Dallas would jump back to life. Dad would complain how the deer had raided his well-tended garden while they were gone as Mom started to unpack and make a list of all the things they would need at the store to restock the house. Keith would be in HIS bed, not a smelly guest bed in some cop's house, dreaming of the flint-hooved horses running on his grandfather's ranch. Dad would have the fireplace in the house stocked up with wood, making the house smell so good.

Keith dragged himself into the backseat of the car. He could hear Lance shoving something big into the trunk… by the sounds, Keith was guessing a bike. "Why the hell is he bringing a bike," Keith thought, looking at the sky. The cold grey sky seemed to say snow and cold.

Cold… why was it now that he was noticing he was getting cold? Keith almost jumped when he heard a rap on the door. "Here, I think you might be in need of this," Charlie said as he tossed a jacket to Keith.

"Thank you," Keith said meekly as he put it on.

Lance hopped in as Charlie moved out of the way, shoving a backpack between them. Keith couldn't help but snort at the expression Lance had on his face, like a cat with a bird in its mouth. His tongue was sticking out of a grin on the verge of laughter. "What are you smiling about?" Keith snorted.

Lance leaned toward Keith, "Got something cool, I'll show you later." he whispered.

As the car started to move, Keith could swear he could hear Lance's sister Jackie scream, "Lance! You f…" "I don't want to know," he told Lance before turning his face back to the window.

Charlie looked into the backseat at Lance. "Why do you have to be a thorn in Jackie's side, boy?" he said with a sigh.

"May be I wouldn't be if she wasn't such a pain in my butt." Lance shot back. "She always thinks I never do anything nice. When I do something nice for her, she never says 'thank you' or anything. It's like I don't exist," he sighed as he sank into the seat.

Charlie sighed as well. The trip to the store was quiet. Keith grabbed only what was needed despite the offers for other things. Lance took his boredom out on the women's undergarment department, grabbing items and asking Charlie what each one was. Charlie almost lost it when Lance joined him at the cash register with a pink thong wrapped around his head. "I thought it was an eye patch," Lance whined. "Just look at it, how can girls wear this?"

Keith tried to cover the laughter bubbling from the sight of Lance with the small amount of fabric over one eye. Charlie stood there shell-shocked as the little old lady behind the register chuckled. "They're only young once," she said with a smile. "If I don't kill him first," Charlie thought.

Back in the car, Keith was still trying to kill the chuckle stuck in his throat. Despite Charlie telling him to put the thong away, Lance went all "Pirates" with it. "Surrender your booty, mates. Shiver my timbers and whatever," he cried as he pranced about with the small pink underwear on his head. Even after he put them back, Lance kept the pirate-bit up. Charlie finally gave into Lance's madness, diving head long into "Pirate-speech" with him. "Come on Keith," Lance prodded. "Say it! I'm a Pirate!"

"You're a nut-job," he shot back, still laughing to himself.

"ARG, that he be," Charlie barked as they pulled up to the house. "And here be thy final stop for thy day. Now, off this ship you scurvy belly land-lovers, and grab your bags or they be cursed to the winds at ye," he cried as he popped the trunk. Charlie watched as the boys grabbed the bags, dragging half of them on the ground as he pulled the bike Lance crammed in out of the trunk. He made an easy night of it, pizza and TV. While Keith was not really up for anything that was on, Lance found a cheesy cartoon.

Later, after Keith and Lance were supposed to have turned in, Lance pulled out his backpack from the edge of the bed. "Hey, Keith," he whispered to his bunkmate. "Can you keep a secret?"

"…"

"I mean it," Lance pleaded, turning on a small lamp, "Can you?"

"Sure, what is it about?" Keith mumbled as he straightened himself in the bed.

"I swiped these mags from my brother," Lance said, handing him one. "I don't want Uncle Charlie to know about it. My brother Willy is always hogging them, won't let me read them, so I snagged a few. I've wanted to see what the deal is about them."

Keith looked at the magazine. It wasn't something he had seen himself nor heard of it. On the cover was a girl with shirt half open posing funny. Opening it, he found himself looking at several girls all naked posing in funny ways. "Geez, Lance, your brother is a perv," he said turning to Lance.

"Perhaps… "Lance agreed. "Still, check out Miss October." showing the centerfold in the magazine he was looking at. Lying across a blue bed sheet was a beautiful blonde wearing a witch's hat and holding a broomstick across her chest. The two boys seemed to stare at the image for some time before they were startled by Charlie's voice blaring behind the door. "Get to sleep, you two. Lights out now!" Keith shoved the magazine under the pillows as Lance turned the lights out.

Keith was trying to sleep now. He just wished Miss October wasn't riding the flint-hooves like that. It was making parts of him very uncomfortable.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Falling slowly into …

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><p>The old man sat by the fire, gazing at each flame licking the air. Surrounded by the tools of his trade as a medicine man of a tribe far from home, he watched the flames dance their story and wood crackle its song. His face was sober as he gazed, sighing as if to hear a sad tale. The younger man was cautious in his approach, hoping that he was not intruding in anything the old sage may be doing. The elder turned his eyes to his assistant and nodded to hear the young man.<p>

"Elder… I have learned that one of ours has passed," he said in a hushed manner. "Her in-laws have asked if there are traditions that must be met."

The old man looked at the younger as if to question if there was something missing in his statement.

"She is survived by a young son. All other family members are back home on Ganelv," he quickly added.

"I will head out to the boy, see if there is anything he may need," the old man said, looking back to the fire. "Pack my bags with what I will need for the mother's pyre. I will take care of the rest."

The young man bowed deeply to his mentor as he left. Grabbing some herbs nestled in a bowl near his side, the old man placed them in a small clay plate on the fire's edge. As they started to smoke, he sighed once more before going into a chant to invoke the spirits of his home world.

o0o0o0o

Charlie wanted to take a picture of the two boys in his charge. To him, this was funny as all get out. Lance had kicked the sheets off him and was spread eagle across the bed, his leg over Keith's waist and an arm over Keith's head. Keith was facing Lance with his arm across Lance's chest, his fist in a ball just under his chin. If Charlie didn't know better, it would have been a still photo of a fight. Leaving the boys to wake themselves, Charlie headed to the kitchen to whip up breakfast.

o0o0o0o0o

Keith's head hurt and he felt cold. He tried to open his eyes, but it was hard to focus. Something was pinching his hips. Trying to focus again, he could make out snowflakes drifting by his hands. There were shards of glass and snowflakes around him. The smell of metal and gas filled his nose. The car… he was in the car.

"Mother… " he moaned as he tried to right himself.

"Shh, be still my baby… "A woman's voice said to him.

"Mother, where are you?" Keith cried. Looking around, the broken car was empty save for him. "Mother?" Keith called out again.

The snow seemed to become thicker as it fell, creating a strange haze around the lights of the nearby truck and car. In the grey snow-filled sky, a black mass was forming above him. Keith started shaking violently as he felt his body become colder. He watched as the dark mass spread out wings as it landed near the car. Its shape shifted into the form of a large bird. Pitch black save for its glowing yellow eyes and the reddish feathers upon its chest. It stood taller than the truck, a deep blue haze around it. It leaned down toward the small, shivering child, its beak just a mere foot from his nose.

* ( _Keith_ ) *

The voice pounded into his head with a shock causing him to jump awake.

"Oh man, Keith. What was that for?" Lance moaned.

Keith opened his eyes again. He was in the guest bed. Looking over the edge of the bed, he could see Lance's butt in the air, his face firmly planted into the carpet.

"Sorry about that, Lance," he squeaked. "I had… a strange dream."

"Okay, whatever. You need the john or can I go first?" Lance asked, trying to get his hair out of his face.

Keith shook his head. He still needed to clear the fog from his head. The dream seemed so real to him. The bird's breath still seemed to be on him. He quickly changed into some daytime clothes and started to fix the sheets.

"We can finish that later, I smell pancakes!" Lance ran in.

"What?" Keith said, not noticing the smell drifting from down the hallway.

"PANCAKES!" Lance growled. He pranced about as he tried to get his pants zipped. "You do know what those are?"

"Yeah, I do," Keith moaned. "I just don't see the big deal."

Lance rolled his eyes at Keith and puffed his reddish brown hair from his face. Keith was such a stick-in-the-mud if not just a bore. Somewhere in that kid had to be a fun dude, or at least someone who was okay to hang with.

"Okay… maybe there is something to these pancakes to get worked up about," Keith thought as he started to work into his second serving. Charlie was pretty good at making them and seemed to like making two kinds. Today, it was plain buttermilk and the other was caramelized pineapple. The maple syrup sent the flavor into overdrive. Lance was gobbling them down like crazy with a goofy grin on his face.

"So, boys, what plans do you have in mind for today?" Charlie asked as Lance started to pile on a third stack on his plate. "I have some calls to make, so I hope they are not anything big."

Keith poked the scrambled eggs he had on the side of his plate. He couldn't think of what he wanted to do.

"I was thinking of showing Keith the area. Maybe head down to the edge of town on my bike to the Pappy's Corner store and the bike park," Lance quipped with a mouthful of pancakes.

"Mmm… I think you should keep away from the Park. From what I hear, the trails are not so good right now." Charlie told them. "If you two are going to be on the same bike, I don't want you going anywhere too far."

"Fine… "Lance moaned

Keith chuckled. The TV in the background was talking about the weather. The snow that had plowed though the state was done for the next few days. "If only it could warm up," Keith thought. Somehow, it felt as if the cold from the dream he had was still with him.

Later, Keith was staring at Lance's bike in the driveway. It was nothing too fancy. A basic Off-track bike with rods on its axles so one could stand on the wheels. "You do tricks?" Keith asked, as Lance handed him a helmet.

"I can do a bit right now. But just watch, one day I'll be a famous Bike star," Lance declared with a smug grin as he sat on his bike.

Keith shook his head and propped his feet on the rods on the rear wheel. "Whatever, let's just see what your town has to offer," he moaned as he grabbed onto Lance.

o0o0o0o0o

Charlie watched as the two boys headed off to ride about the town. He had already called his fellow officers to keep an eye on the two while he dealt with the uneasy task of making the appointments with the head shrinks, finding out from the coordinator as to when Keith's family on Earth would be coming for him and all whatnot. Keith seemed to be doing okay. But Keith's behavior was like a little bug, itching under the surface, crying out that something was off.

Perhaps Keith was doing too well. That or Lance was doing one heck of a job distracting Keith from his emotions. Or, he thought as he was flipping though the paperwork looking for the numbers he had to call, perhaps Keith was still in shock. It might all come out, once reality set in. But he wasn't a doctor. Sighing, he picked up the phone and dialed for the person handling Keith's case. It was time to find out what was going to be happening with him.

o0o0o0o0o

It seemed too weird to him. Keith could not help how the sensation felt like flying as Lance pedaled down the streets. A few times, he would close his eyes and let the winds caress his face. He had a moment where he wanted to raise his arms as if to soar, but as he loosened his grip, he almost lost his balance. The town wasn't too much different from the one near his home. There were perhaps more Mom-and-Pop stores, but nothing that really stood out. Nothing unique.

That bothered Keith more. Maybe he'd have to move in with his Aunt. She wasn't a bad person. His Uncle was okay as well as his cousins. It just wasn't home near the Ganelvian cluster. Aunt Toru lived in the Japanese area of Houston. It was a nice area, but he preferred his mother's side more. Perhaps that was what hurt the most, the loss of everything that was his mother.

No more joining her when she went to council, or dancing with her at the gatherings. Gone would be the Ganelv songs she would sing as he went to sleep.

"Ah, Keith?" Lance choked out. "You're starting to strangle me."

"Oh… sorry, Lance," Keith said as he loosened his grip.

Lance looked behind him at Keith. It freaked him a bit how Keith's eyes glowed. It seemed the blue of his eyes were so pale, they were almost white. Against his tanned skin, his eyes looked to reflect any and all the light about them. "Keith… I've been meaning to ask. What is it about your eyes?" Lance asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well… they look like they are glowing," Lance replied in a sheepish manner.

"Huh?" Keith blurted. With that, the light went out of his eyes. Staring back at Lance was a normal pair of bright blue eyes.

"Um… Never mind. Must have been the way the light was reflecting," Lance muttered as he returned his focus on pedaling to corner store.

Inside Pappy's Corner, there were a few things Keith didn't expect to find. There were homemade candies and fudge, strange do-hickeys and what-nots. All jumbled with sodas, chips and smokes. Lance was spellbound to the display of fudges, while Keith was trying to figure out a bunch of nails twisted into the shape of a man hunting deer would appeal to anyone. "So, what do you want to get?" Lance asked, interrupting Keith's train of thought.

"Get what?" Keith muttered.

"I don't know, soda, snack, something to twiddle your thumbs with," Lance snorted back. "Actually, never mind. I'll pick something out for both of us."

Lance didn't want to come off rude. Anyone could see Keith was out of it. Picking out some Salty Pretzel dark chocolate fudge, a couple slices of pizza and sodas, Lance handed the bag to Keith as they headed out the store. It was too quiet for Lance's liking as they walked towards a small park. Keith looked like he was falling deep into himself as they got closer to the park bench.

"You okay, Keith? Do we need to get back ho… to my uncle's place?" Lance asked, catching his mistake.

He was going to say "home", but it hit him. Home for Keith was kind of gone. Anything that was familiar was going to change. For a moment, Lance could feel Keith's pain, the need to cry and the tightness in his chest. By the time they were at the bench, Keith broke down. Lance knew he could do nothing but hold on to Keith as he mumbled something in a different tongue. He thought of cracking a joke on how Keith was shaking the soda, but changed his mind and took the bag from Keith.

Lance watched the few stray snowflakes fall from the nearby trees softly to the ground. "Stupid snow," Lance thought. Above the trees, Lance could see a large bird circle the park about them. He couldn't make it out what type it was, "Damn vulture, go away." Lance wanted to say out loud. "There's nothing for you here." The bird seemed to vanish on command.

Lance at first, he thought it was strange, but dismissed it to not seeing the bird actually fly away. He went back to holding Keith closely as he continued to cry. That was the good thing about pizza. It was fine even if it was cold.


	5. Chapter 5

** Sorry for the delay, my Flying Fickle Finger of a Muse loves to run from me at times. Really got away that time.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Watch for that turn to the left…<p>

* * *

><p>Lance was grateful for the day to end. After they finally had their lunch, Keith was due for appointments with several doctors. Charlie picked them up from the park and drove them to the doctor's. It was boring sitting in the waiting rooms; Lance was convinced that Hell was real on earth under the name of "waiting room" filled with stupid magazines and a single TV stuck on one channel. The only thankful part was Charlie had told him that this was the only time they were going to be doing this. In a couple days, Keith was mostly likely be joining his Aunt and moving on.<p>

Moving on…

"Could one move on after that crash?" Lance wondered. He could still see it in his mind, the twisted metal and broken glass of the car and the metallic smell mixed with gas in the air. Lance shook his head to clear the thought. He'd rather focus more on Miss July and her romp at an Aerospace Museum. Bikes weren't as interesting as a 21st century F-15 with "Bonnie" at the stick. Lance knew one thing for sure, his brother Will was never going to see that issue again.

Keith had become dead quiet after seeing the doctors. Charlie had chalked it up to having fresh wounds rubbed vigorously with salt. Lance wanted to be mad at Keith for not picking something that he would eat from the Chinese menu, but he didn't see the use. Charlie was just happy Keith had some of the egg-drop soup and a few noodles from the chicken lo-mein. In his book, it was better than nothing.

Keith had retired early to bed soon after dinner. The look of pain was deeply ingrained into his face. Lance was happy he was able to talk his uncle in not camping just outside the door of the bedroom by volunteering to head to bed early as well. Lance really wanted to read his new favorite magazine, but he had promised to leave the door open and light on so Charlie could check in every so often. Now he was catching peeks of it, and covering it at almost every sound.

Lance decided to give up on reading it this night and stashed it into his bag. Looking back at Keith, Lance wondered what was going on in Keith's mind. He wanted to help as well. Granted, he'd never known Keith before the crash, but the loneliness was so familiar to him. Sure, he had his family where Keith had lost his. But Lance's parents were always busy and Anna got sick a lot. He knew the need to be held by the ones he loved; Lord knew how hard he tried to get a hug from his mother or his father. He felt like giving up so many times. The rejection was finally getting to him… it had become so much easier to get them to acknowledge that he existed by yelling his name.

Lance could feel the urge to close his eyes when he noticed something odd on Keith's face. For a moment it looked like he had some tinsel stuck on his face. Forming on his forehead in a V and a thin line going across his cheekbone was something giving off a light-blue glow. Holding his hand just around Keith's face, he could see that the light was coming from the lines. If Lance thought he was going to get any sleep, it went right out a window.

"What the hell?" Lance whispered as the lights grew a little brighter.

He'd just lightly touched the line glowing on Keith's cheek when a power surge ripped through him, knocking him out.

Out in the living room, Charlie was startled when the lights in the house flickered. Walking over to the guest room, he saw Keith and Lance sleeping soundly on the bed. He sighed as he turned the lights in the room off. Looking in once more, he wished them a peaceful night.

o0o0o0o0o

"Damn… what was that?" Lance thought to himself as he watched a snowflake drift past his face.

"There's snow everywhere," Lance mumbled. He tried to get his bearings as to where he was. He was hoping to be somewhere warm, not in the freezing cold; somehow, however how he got here, he'd come without a coat and that just pissed him off. Looking about, he realized that he was on the road where he met Keith. The truck's lights were glowing their white light, giving the area a silver tone. The car with its roof ripped off lay not far away in a ditch, rear lights glowing red with the front lights barely glowing white. Lance noticed that his Uncle's car was nowhere to be seen, and neither anyone else. He was alone in the cold without a coat. "This so sucks," Lance groaned.

A sense of morbid curiosity fell over Lance. As he started to walk over to the car, he could hear a muffled sound of someone crying. It took some time, but as he got closer to the car, he realized who it was. Lying in the back seat was Keith, covered in snow and glass. "Keith?" Lance said, expecting to be ignored. After all, this was a messed-up dream he was in.

"Lance, what are you doing here?" Keith replied, almost shocked that he was here.

"Freezing my ass off in this F-ed up dream," Lance said snapped back. "What do I have to do to get a coat here?"

Keith sat there with a huge smile growing on his face. "I thought I was alone here," he mumbled as he tried to climb out of the car. Tripping as he made his way over the door, Keith landed on Lance. "Sorry about that. Is there anyone else here?" he asked.

"No, it's just you and me," Lance replied.

"I could have sworn I heard… Are you sure?" Keith demanded.

"Yeah, why are you asking that?" Lance barked back.

"It's just… I thought I heard my mother's voice," Keith said weakly, placing his head on Lance's shoulder.

Lance held Keith for a moment before patting his back. "Come on, Keith," he said gently. "Let's move on from here and find somewhere better and warmer."

Slowly they moved from the wreck, holding tightly to each other for warmth. The wind picked up a bit, causing them to huddle even closer. Lance cursed as the falling snow became heavier. Looking about, he noticed that nothing seemed right. "The road we are on has to be next to a farm," Lance thought. But now, even the edge of the road was hard to tell from the snow banks. "Of all things to dream about, freezing to death was never on my list," moaned Lance.

"Not exactly my idea of a dream too, Lance," Keith groaned back.

As they kept walking forward they noticed a ridgeline forming in front and that the road that they were on was turning into dirt. The snow started to thin as they continued moving forward. The sky remained a silver-grey and they could see that the ridge forming was in fact a tall cliff side reaching left to right as far as they could see. In the cliff face were what appeared to be windows with a deep red glow coming from within. Keith almost froze in his tracks.

"What is that?" Lance asked.

"This is… This should not be here… "Keith muttered.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Lance said hoping Keith would make some kind of sense.

"This is the city Nahuatl, but... it's on Ganelv," Keith continued to mutter. "How are we here?"

"Dream, dude," Lance snorted.

Keith stared at Lance. True, this all had to be some wild dream. Yet his dreams rarely spoke to him like this. Nor did they ever seem so real. If anything, it felt like Lance was really with him in this dream.

"This is the strangest dream I have ever had," Lance said with another snort. He noticed Keith was looking at him in a strange manner. "What?" He yelled.

"Just wondering if I'm the one dreaming or we're in a shared dream?" Keith mused.

Lance pondered for a moment. "Who was dreaming what here?" he thought. It hadn't come to him that he might be in a shared dream. "Well, since I've never left Earth before… who knows," Lance replied. "But I have to say, I would never dream of anything like this."

"Nor would I," Keith added. "But it should be warmer than out here."

Lance nodded as he followed Keith to a rock stairway that was cut into the side of the cliff. He couldn't help but notice how simple the stairs and doorway of the city seemed. It was… plain. Almost like it could melt into the natural rock surface and vanish from sight.

"Um, Keith?" Lance inquired. "How can you tell that this is a city and which one?"

"The windows that were reddish in color. You can only see the cities at night. The pattern was a winged serpent and the color was Nahuatl's." Keith answered.

"You see a winged serpent in that?" Lance said looking up at the windows.

"Pretty crude, huh?" Keith chuckled. "That's Ganelvian style for ya. Abstract and crude on the outside, but when we go in, it should be different."

"Different" was right.

Lance's jaw wanted to drop as Keith moved a rock slab to reveal a second ornate metal door. The design on the door was that of feathered snake. On closer inspection, Lance could see the door was layers of laced patterns creating the main image. Keith had Lance stand just inside the metal doorway as he closed the rock slab back over to where it was. As soon as he did that, a blue-green light filled in the lacework of the door. To Lance, it seemed to pulse with life. Keith went to a small box-shape object at the side of the door. Slipping his hand into it, he reached for a small knob within.

Lance thought that Keith's hand was going to be chopped off as the colors on the door changed to an orange-red. He sighed with relief when the door instead popped open. Passing though the door, Lance felt like he had finally stepped though "The" rabbit hole.

It wasn't a huge main room or hallway, but an underground world. The floor of the cavern was lined with trees. The huge ornate towers that held up the ceiling were also buildings. Similar buildings lined the wall that had the door to the city. Across the city from the door was a pyramid. Lance could see it was metal lace-work with the blue-green and red-orange lights with bits of white light as well – Like the door, only in a much grander scale.

Lance stood in awe of the city's glowing lights. Deep red in color, they seemed to move about the many passage ways as if alive.

"The lights are amazing… when daylight comes they glow almost white and move to the ceiling." Keith said softly to Lance as he leaned against the railing of the rock platform they stood on.

"Welcome, Lance," Keith said, looking at him. "Welcome to the high city, Nahuatl, Capital of Ganelv."

* * *

><p>oxoxoxo<p>

AN: Nahuatl is the language of Mesoamerica, mostly in Central America


End file.
